Reno's Tifa Nightingale
by Dave the Wordsmith
Summary: Reno decides to hang out with Cloud and the gang. While out with Yuffie he gets into an accident and is taken care of by Tifa. However, he develops feelings for her. Does Tifa feel the same way about Reno?
1. The Reunion and the Accident

_**Disclaimer:** Final Fantasy VII is owned by Square (now SquareEnix). Yup. Not me. Them. But that should be obvious, ya know?_

**Chapter One: The Reunion and the Accident**

"Tiff, these wings are delicious!"

Reno smacked and chewed on his food between words. He took another bite of a buffalo wing before throwing it down on the plate before him.

_Damn, I ate this food faster than I thought._

Sitting at the bar stool before Tifa, he wiped his mouth with his napkin and dropped it in his lap. An eaten wing slipped out of his hands and fell onto the floor, colliding with a crackle and a pop. The other customers talking amongst themselves droned the sound of the accident out, leaving Reno and Tifa as the only ones to know about it. The smell of beer, meat and cologne mingling with each other reached Tifa's nostrils. She shrugged it off, having endured it over the years and made her way over to the sink to rinse off a few plates and bottles. However, what was going on right in front of her was another story.

_I knew I shouldn't have let him in here. But if I try to kick him out, he'll only come back._

Tifa sighed, witnessing the red headed Turk tossing more food and beer into his mouth. Shaking her head, she continued to watch Reno and his sloppy eating habits. He reached down to his napkin placed on his lap to wipe his orange stained hands.

After taking a quick sip of beer from his mug, Reno smiled as he slammed it down on the counter. His eyes seemed to smile along with his lips as he raised his hand to scratch the back of his head. "You know what I'm gonna say, right?"

Tifa rolled her eyes, her hands moving down to rest on her hips. "I know, I know…put your order on Rude's tab."

He chuckled. "Good girl. He'll never know. It ends the same way every time. Rude finds out, he tells you to put it on Elena's tab, they argue over it, and finally agree to split the costs due to them being so drunk the night before that they couldn't figure out who bought what! God I'm smart."

_As long as I don't tell them what he's doing._ Tifa thought to herself.

"You won't tell either of them, right?"

"…Damn." She said under her breath.

Reno clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "You know better than to do that, Tifa. A promise is a promise."

"Yo, Tifa!"

Tifa raised her head while drying an empty glass to see a tall man standing to the right of Reno.

"Barret. I'm glad you could make it from Corel."

"You damn right! That snow outside was whuppin' my ass. I was thinkin' I was back at Icicle Inn 'n' shit!" Barret stared down at Reno who was biting on another wing, nodding his head toward his direction. "And what's he doin' here?" He said, sticking his thumb out toward his direction.

"What? Can't a man relax and have some alcohol and appetizers in peace?" Reno dropped down from his bar stool, taking a few seconds to stare at Barret before turning to look at Tifa. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be taking a little walk. I'll be back soon, so don't worry. You won't miss me for long." He said, winking at Tifa.

"Whatever." Tifa turned her head as Reno left the bar.

Barret frowned, sitting down in Reno's seat. He slammed his fist onto the counter, rattling a few empty bottles in front of him. "Where did Cloud and his spikey butt go? He was suppose ta be helpin' me out with plannin' Marlene's surprise birthday party," He whispered, glancing around to make sure his daughter was nowhere in sight to hear his last sentence. "He promised he would help me with it after he lost a bet we made a few weeks ago."

"A bet?"

"Yeah. But it's a long story."

"What is, Barret?"

Tifa's small smile appeared on her face as she took notice at who was now right next to Barret. "Cloud."

"Man, where were you?" Barret asked as he nodded at Tifa who had handed him a drink.

"I had a few things to take care of," He said, a lack of emotion in his voice. He planted himself in the stool next to Barret and nodded at Tifa, who did the same in return. She walked over to the back of the bar, making his usual favorite drink. "Cid, Red and Yuffie should be here any minute now. They came here with me."

"Aw man, not that ninja! That girl's mouth is so bad, even Cid can't stand her ass!"

"Well, they promised to pitch in with what I have planned for Marlene, so I had to bring them." Cloud said. Barret grunted and crossed his arms.

"Whateva."

"…"

"I mean, me 'n' Cid try to look after her. But shit," Barret moved his eyes from his mug directly onto Cloud's. "…I'd rather be locked up in a room with Vincent than listen to her runnin' off at the mouth all willy nilly!"

The sound of the entrance to the bar closing echoed throughout the room. The cold, fierce winds blew past everybody's faces, causing Tifa and Cloud to turn their heads to see who came inside. Cid, Red XIII and Yuffie made their way over to where Cloud, Tifa and Barret were located. Yuffie stared at Barret, her cheerful face transforming into a sad expression, wiping at her eyes with her fists.

"Wah wah wah! Always cryin' like a big baby! You can't take a joke or two, can ya?"

"In that case," Yuffie nervously swallowed as she heard Barret snort. Shaking his gun arm before Yuffie's face, his face folded into a frown. "If you like jokes so much, how'd you like it if I took this joke and shoved it up your-"

"C'mon Barret! Don't even waste your time with this kid!" Cid stepped between the two of them, his arms spread out. "Besides, isn't it your bed time?"

Yuffie groaned, stomping her feet and crossing her arms. "For the last time, I'm not a kid you old geezer!"

"Old? Old?! Why you-" Cid threw his cigarette that was placed between his lips onto the ground and stomped on it.

"So much for not taking your own advice," Red shook his head, watching the young ninja, the pilot and the former leader of AVALANCHE shouting their heads off at each other.

Tifa snickered, returning from another table across the room. She put her tray down before her, a smile plastered on her face. "No matter how many years have passed since the crisis, things are still the same…"

* * *

The bright blue sky and the sun beaming its rays down onto the lively busy city of Edge brought a drastic contrast to the cold, snowy weather they experienced over the past few days. A cheerful Yuffie chuckled as she skipped down the street of the market area of Edge, tossing a bright red materia into the air. It bounced off her head and back into her hand, which placed the materia back into her pocket.

"Those materia merchants always fall for 'Look, it's Sephiroth!' every time!" Yuffie leaped high over a big crowd of people gathered in the middle of the road, landing on the other side. Taking out the small red orb from her pocket, she placed it between her fingers and stared at it with a smile on her face. "They say this materia is a newly discovered summon materia." She said, memorizing the details of it. Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she turned around with her fists in front of her face until she saw who it was.

"Yuffs, there you are."

"Reno, warn somebody before you do that! You remember what happened the last time you did that!" Yuffie thrust her fists rapidly out in front of her, a frown on her face. Reno continued to stare at her through his sunglasses, his face emotionless. Seeing Yuffie leave the market place and trudge out to an open field, he followed where she was going.

"Yeah, yeah. But anyway, I was looking for you. You remember, ohhhhh, a little movie I rented a few days ago. And I asked you to return it last night, correct?"

Yuffie swallowed the little spit that was left in her throat, her eyes widening a little. "Yeah, you rented Knocked Up, we both watched it. Well, not the whole thing because…you know…and then I turned it in. So? What's the big deal?"

"There were a billion scratches on the disk and I had to pay a big ass fine for nothing!"

"Well Reno, that's what you get for not taking it back yourself! Tough!" Yuffie played with the materia in her hand, forgetting about the conversation she was having with the Turk. "Besides, Superbad was better! If one movie deserved scratches, it was that one."

"Can't argue with that one," Reno's eyebrows flew up once he spotted what was bouncing around in Yuffie's hands. "…Hey, what's that? Materia?"

"Watch it!" Yuffie stepped back, clutching it in her hand. "This is rare!"

"What's the matter?"

"This isn't a good time to ask questions, Reno. I'm not exactly in the best mood right now."

"…Psssh! As if you ever are."

"What?!" Yuffie gritted her teeth, placing the materia into her mystile armor. "Don't make me use this on you."

"C'mon, Yuffie. Stop playing around. Let's go."

"No!" Yuffie noticed her materia glowing, yet nothing happened. Laughing, Reno shook his head and grabbed Yuffie's hand.

"Fine, I'll drop being mad about the DVD. Let's just go back to Edge and – what the?" Reno lifted his sunglasses to see a giant crowd of yellow, green, blue and black balls bobbing up and down approaching him. Once they grew closer and closer, he could see their feet, feathers and beaks as they grew larger and larger. "What are those things? No, it can't be! A stampede of Chocobos!" He turned around to see a vanished Yuffie as he ran for his life, his arms and legs flailing as he ran through the tall grass. Feeling tremendous pressure on his neck, back and legs, he buckled under the pressure of multiple feet pounding onto his back. Before he knew it, his vision had faded to black.


	2. Therapy

**Chapter Two: Therapy**

Opening his eyes, Reno moved them from side to side to take in his surroundings. Looking around he spotted the window, the rain knocked against the windowpane. An explosion of thunder followed seconds after a lightning bolt streaked through the sky.

_Damn…how long have I been down and out?_

The smell of chicken soup made his eyes enlarge. Sitting up, he yelled and grimaced as he grabbed at his lower back. Lying back down, his hands returned to rest by his sides.

"Damn! Out of all the things they could have put me on, they chose a sofa? Put me on a cardboard box and leave me out on the street, why don't you?" He threw the red soggy washcloth that was on his forehead onto the ground.

"Is this how you treat a host? Or did I happen to catch you on a bad day?"

"Tifa?" Reno rubbed his forehead, looking around to see where the voice was coming from. "Is that you?"

"Well it's definitely not Barret." Tifa walked into the room, carrying a tray with a bowl full of soup on top.

Reno laughed. "Good. Otherwise I would have thought he landed wrong on a see-saw before puberty," Reno attempted to sit up again but he groaned and lay back down.

"We tried to take you to the hospital but as soon as they saw you, they-"

"Yeah, I know." Reno groaned. "We Turks aren't exactly on a hospital's guest list."

"Right. But the good news is you're healing faster than I thought."

Reno smiled. "I'm a Turk. What can I say?"

"Hmph."

"But how did I end up here? I was with Yuffie in a field outside of town and before I knew it, a bunch of Chocobos ran over me."

"Cloud found you out there on his delivery route and brought you here," Tifa sat the tray in his lap. "And let's just say you won't be seeing Yuffie for a while."

"Why?" He asked. He stared at his bowl, stirring the soup with his silver spoon. "Oh yippee. Chicken noodle, my favorite."

"Let's just say a certain ninja promised not to steal any materia for an undisclosed sum as long as I do not reveal where she went."

"What kind of sick, cruel animal are you? What about me? What about my feelings?" Reno shook his head, looking up to see Tifa laughing with her hand over her mouth. "What's so funny? I'm serious here."

"Nothing." She said, letting loose a few more laughs.

"C'mon. Give me the details."

"Yuffie didn't say this, but…I think the reason she disappeared is she felt guilty about hurting you with that materia."

"Tifa, work with me here. You're talking about Yuffie Kisaragi, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

Reno took a moment to slurp some soup from his spoon before speaking. "This is the same Yuffie who talks shit, abuses people, steals their materia, and you're saying she feels sorry about my accident? She's probably laughing her ass off about it, watching reruns of Two and a Half Men while eating tacos, sucking back on some Dos Equis and belching the Nutcracker Suite."

"Touché, Reno." Tifa said, handing him a glass of water. He accepted it with a weak smile, watching Tifa plop herself in the couch across from him. "Touché."

"But I know that deep down, she misses me like a fat kid that is late to an all-you-can-eat buffet."

"…Sure."

Reno groaned some more while moving around in the sofa. "Now I know how old people feel when they try to get out of bed. God…"

"Well Reno, the good news is you won't have to experience morning back pain for another thirty years."

"That certainly cheered me up. You know, Hallmark should hire you to make get well cards."

"Hah, hah, hah," Tifa said, rolling her eyes. "After a week or so you should be back on your feet, bothering people and mooching off of my alcohol like usual."

"You know me well. A little too well." Reno said, before setting his tray down on the ground and closing his eyes.

* * *

"I'm feeling better already," Reno said after awakening from his sleep, the sunshine hitting his eyes. The bandages wrapped under his clothes around his midsection gave him a reminder of his injury as they started rubbing against his skin when he turned on his side. "Oh yeah, I forgot. I'm still gonna be King Tut until tomorrow."

"Good morning," Tifa said, approaching Reno. She handed him a cup of tea once he managed to sit up in his seat, her hand brushing against his. Jerking her hand back to her side, she cleared her throat as her eyes met Reno's.

"Thanks." He said with a smile.

"You know, you're not so bad. Over the past few days, you've been losing your roughness."

Reno frowned as he brought a finger up to his lips with his free hand. "Shhhhh! Not so loud. They might hear you. But consider yourself lucky. Most people don't see this side of me."

"What's the problem with that?"

"I'll be known as a good guy, and you know what they say about good guys."

"What?"

Reno smacked his lips as he finished drinking from his cup. "They finish last. They only get the leftovers, especially if it deals with women. And he, who hesitates, masturbates."

"TMI, Reno. TMI." She said, shaking her head and leaving to return to the bar area.

"It's the truth!" He said before her figure disappeared in the distance. Reno laughed, drinking the last swallow of tea left in his cup before lying back down. "She likes me."

* * *

Getting up from the sofa, Reno looked out the window to see the sun setting behind the horizon and numerous people heading into their homes.

"Damn, I need a drink," Reno limped into the bar, making his way to behind the counter. Finding a bottle of Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum, he cracked it open with his teeth and began drinking it. "Now that's more like it. Through the teeth, over the gums. Look out stomach, here it comes."

Before he could consume his drink, he heard sobs to his left. Turning his head he noticed Tifa standing by the end of the counter, her face buried in her hands. Placing his beer bottle on the counter, he wiped his lips with the back of his hand and walked over to Tifa, his footsteps echoing throughout the room.

Reno tilted his head. "Teef? Why the water works?"

"…" Tifa's hands dropped from her face, revealing her cheeks flushed and moist from crying.

"…I see." He said, sighing soon after. "I know how you feel. When I heard the news about Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends being cancelled, a few tears leaked from my eyes too."

Tifa sniffled and wiped a few tears from under her eye. "Reno…" She said, a giggle coming from her lips.

"Is that a laugh?" Reno stood back, a silly look on his face.

"…Maybe." Tifa smiled, turning her head to hide her blushing face.

"Well, what's wrong?" Reno asked.

Tifa continued to keep her face turned away from Reno. "It's just…I mean, it's about…" She exhaled, her hand massaging her forehead.

"…It's the blonde spiky haired boy wonder, isn't it?"

"…"

"Don't worry, there could be worse happening to you. It's not the end of the world."

"Reno…" Without warning Tifa ran toward him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and burying her face in his shoulder. Patting her on the back, Reno hid his face that bore a grimace from her arms descending to his sore lower back. His demeanor returned to normal when he heard Tifa whisper his name once more, his lips curving into a smile.

_Sorry Yuff, but I hear the fat lady singing. And it's one hell of a tune.  
_


	3. Jealousy

**Chapter Three: Jealousy**

"Reno." The bald man stood behind the red haired Turk with his arms folded. Reno turned around to see Rude, who took the empty seat next to him. A slow jazz tune playing in the background along with cigarette smoke floating in the air created somewhat of a relaxing setting for the two Turks. "You needed me?"

"Yeah. I got a dilemma on my hands," Reno turned his head from side to side, seeing that there were only a few people in the bar who were yards away from him. He sighed and leaned in closer to Rude. "What would you say if one person who's been talking to another person starts to look at that person differently due to the way she has been treating him? But here's where it gets interesting. That person he's talking to knows a second person who is with the main person. The first person thinks the second person and the main person are an item, even though the main person has specifically told the first person and the second person that it isn't serious. What would you do if you were in that main person's shoes?" He whispered.

"…"

Reno snorted, shaking his head. "Screw it. I tried to explain it the best I could."

"It's Tifa, isn't it?"

"Rude! Keep it down!" Reno whispered, looking at Tifa who was busy talking to a few other customers a few yards away. He caught her glancing at him for a split second, only to look away.

"Tifa? What about Tifa?" A blonde haired woman stared at the two men with her eyebrow raised. Just arriving at the bar, she moved her eyes back and forth between Reno and Rude with her mouth wide open.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it. Shouldn't you be at work, anyway?" Reno waved his hand, placing his bottle of beer to his lips with the other. Elena nodded over at Tifa who prejudged what she wanted for her order and went to fetch her favorite drink. Receiving her Bud Light Lime, Elena sat on the other side of Reno. Seeing the puzzled look on Rude's face, Elena began to giggle and point at him. "The hell is so funny?"

Elena laughed some more as Reno and Rude looked at her with a confused and a blank stare, respectively. "Ti ---- fa, and Re ---- no, sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-"

"Elena! Stop it! It's not what you think!"

"Come on Reno," She said as she placed a hand on his shoulder, a fake pout on her face. "Stop with the lies! Look at you! Your nostrils are so wide open you look like you've been sniffing bowling balls!" She began making loud sniffing noises, giggling afterward.

"Elena!"

"I mean, really! When Rude and I stopped by here yesterday morning, I swear I saw you humming show tunes, watching episodes of Desperate Housewives and eating Special K cereal! What's next? Are you gonna get a manicure and a pedicure?" She asked, counting each observation on her finger.

Reno shook his head, curling his upper lip. "That doesn't sound too bad right now, the way you're talking."

Elena exhaled. She looked deep into Reno's serious looking eyes, her smile vanishing to be replaced by a frown. "Reno, do you even know if Tifa will like what you're doing for her tonight?"

"Yes she will, Elena. Yes she will. I told her the dinner was my treat."

"Oh yeah? Well I bet you a Bud Light that she bails out on you."

"You're on, missy," He said, shaking her hand.

* * *

"Gawd! Why'd I have to refuse Cloud and Tifa's request to stay at their place and instead choose to live here in Wutai with the old man?" Yuffie said, lying on her back in her bed. "Cloud and Tifa could've at least forced me to take a room with them. But no ----!"

Hearing a knock at her front door, Yuffie sat up and moved toward the end of the bed. "Come in!"

"Yuffie?" Tifa walked through the front door, closing it behind her.

Yuffie grinned, watching Tifa walk inside her bedroom. "Teef, what a surprise!"

Tifa frowned with her lip curled to the side. "Surprise? You called me and told me to get here ASAP."

"Whatever," Yuffie bounced a little as Tifa sat down next to her on the bed. "Tifa…I thought you said you were gonna give up eating those Tastykakes?"

Tifa's eyes narrowed, her lips pouched out. "Yuffie. Shut it."

Yuffie giggled, patting Tifa on the leg. "Just kidding! Just kidding! But you know why I asked you to stop by, don't you?"

Tifa smiled. "It's because of Reno, isn't it?"

"If you had said 'because of Cid', I would've hurt ya," Yuffie said, sighing afterward. "But be honest…does he hate me because of what I did?"

"Of course not."

"Thanks, Tifa," Yuffie said, hugging her.

"You're welcome, Yuffie. I'll talk to you later," Tifa nodded, patting Yuffie's back. "Okay Yuffie, you can let go now."

Yuffie finally let go as Tifa got up and left to return to the airship. Yuffie lay back in her bed with her arms crossed, her lips formed into a pout.

_I get the feeling something else is going on with Reno_…_something he knows he wouldn't tell me. I hope it's not what I think it is.  
_

* * *

Sitting at a table in the dimly lit Turtle's Paradise restaurant that was recently built in Edge, Reno eyeballed the items he had in front of him.

"Bottle of expensive white wine…check. Vase full of roses…check. Pre-lit scented candles, courtesy of Turtle's Paradise…check. Well…" Reno rubbed his hands together with a smile on his face, staring at the red candles glowing before him. "She should be here any minute now."

Hearing the sound of footsteps, he looked up to see Tifa heading toward him. Her hips moving side to side with each step seemed to put him in a trance. Reno quickly got up and pulled out her seat, a surprised Tifa shaking her head with a laugh.

"It's okay Reno, I've got it."

_Damn! When you don't do it, they get pissed as hell and remind you that 'chivalry is dead thanks to you chauvinist pigs'. But when you do it, they either say you're patronizing them or they can do it themselves. Dammit! Women, make up your minds!_

Reno and Tifa planted themselves in their seats simultaneously, the both of them looking at their own copy of the Turtle's Paradise menu.

"Reno…"

"Yes?"

Tifa leaned over, placing her chin in her hands with her elbows on the table. "It's great to know that tomorrow your back should be 100% again."

"Really?" Reno said with a little sarcasm in his voice. "I'm gonna miss those 30 Rock rerun marathons we had. Not to mention those mint double chocolate caramel cookie puff things you make."

Tifa laughed. "Reno, I'm serious!"

"Uh huh. Just as serious as you saying that I mooch off of your services at the bar."

"I was serious about that. But I must admit that hanging around with you hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be." Tifa said, her head swaying back and forth a little from the soft jazzy music playing in the background.

Reno grinned. "Well you know, what can I say? I have that effect on people."

"If you say so."

Looking at Tifa's face illuminated by the orange light, Reno couldn't help but continue to look into her eyes as she took another look at the menu in front of her.

"Tifa."

"Yes?" She asked, her eyes meeting his.

"I don't usually say things like this but…you have very beautiful eyes."

Tifa blushed, looking down at the table. "Reno…that's very nice of you."

"No, thank you," Grabbing her hand that was on the table, he began gently rubbing it as he leaned in toward her. Tifa drew herself closer to him as well, both parties' eyes closed. Reno stuck his lips out a little, ready for his to touch hers.

"Reno!" A voice yelled out, Tifa and Reno jerking backwards into their seats. The lights in the restaurant turned on, both Tifa's and Reno's eyes squinting due to the brightness of the room. "Hold it right there, buster!"

"Yuffie? What are you doing here?"

"You know damn well why I'm here! And because of that, you're in big trouble, mister!"


	4. One Drink

**Chapter Four: One Drink**

**A/N:** Sorry about the delay of this chapter! School + Easter Sunday ='d no time to finish writing this until yesterday. But I'm back!

* * *

The red haired Turk looked at the young ninja, his eyebrow rising at the sight of her trembling and shaking her hands. "What the hell are you talking about, Yuffie?"

Yuffie pointed at a surprised Tifa standing next to Reno, grumbling once her eyes fell upon her. "You're with…with her!"

"Huh?" Tifa asked. She crossed her arms and looked at Yuffie with a confused look on her face.

Reno snorted. He stared across the room at the petite ninja. "So? I can't hang out with anyone else? I can only be out somewhere with you?"

Yuffie chuckled. "Come on, Reno! You're talking to me, remember? Don't try to lie to me! A man such as you hanging out with another girl who has not either been beaten to within an inch of her life by an ugly stick or is not a lesbian is obviously cheating!"

"Cheating?" Reno approached Yuffie, stopping a few feet apart from her. "Woman, please! You think leaving me alone in a field and not helping me is a sign of commitment? And then you wanna get upset at me for something that you did wrong?"

Yuffie scratched the back of her head, staring at the ground. "Well…I mean…"

Reno shook his head. "That's what I thought. Come on Teef, let's go," He said, grabbing Tifa's hand and pulling her with him towards the exit. He brushed past Yuffie, who turned her head and looked at him with a sad look on her face. Yuffie gasped as Tifa bumped into her and turned around, sticking her tongue out at the ninja before looking at Reno with a smile on her face.

"Damn you Tifa! I'm gonna get you for this! Nobody takes my Reno away from me!"

* * *

Yuffie slammed the front door of her house in Wutai, the sound reverberating throughout her home. She grumbled as she stomped into her bedroom and threw herself on her bed. Pounding her pillow Yuffie threw it on the ground, leaped off the bed and began trampling on it. White feathers floated before her and found themselves in her mouth. Coughing, a few feathers flew from her lips. After clearing her throat, she wiped her forehead and sighed.

"Gawd! I need a drink…" Running into the kitchen, she threw the refrigerator open to find one green bottle with a white label wrapped around it in the center shelf in front of the other food. "Motherfudger! I knew I shouldn't have invited Elena and Rude here last night! They drank most of the Rolling Rock I had! Those bastards! They probably drank themselves into a deep catnap last night after they left!" She said as she grabbed the last lager left and closed the refrigerator door. Popping the top off of the bottle, she gasped and grinned afterward.

"Wait a minute, that's it! Reno, have I got a surprise for you!" She said, laughing before she took a sip of her beer.

* * *

Reno sat down at the bar, his hands folded in front of him. Pushing his sunglasses down onto his face with his finger, he smiled at the sight of Tifa walking around the room serving other customers.

"Too bad, Cloud…you could've had a great woman. Now her assets are mine, no pun intended."

Turning his head in time, he caught the dark brown beer bottle that slid across the counter and smacked into his hand. Looking up he caught Tifa right next to him looking into his eyes with a smile on her face. Reno scratched his chin, his lips pursed out as he gazed into her lazy looking eyes.

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Re – noooooooooo!"

"Tifa? I appreciate the greeting and all, but are you-"

"Drunk? Tipsy? Smashed? Wasted?"

"Uhhh yeah."

"Maaaaaaaaay – be!" Tifa poked at Reno's forehead, laughing subsequently.

_Damn. With any other chick, we'd already be back at my place. But this is Tifa. I can't take advantage of her like this…at least not right now._

"Why?"

"Well, I waaaaaaaaas a little stressed out, sooooooo I figured what the hell?" Tifa said in a singy-song voice, leaning against the counter. "I had a lot of work to do. Helping out with some of Cloud's deliveries, I needed something to do to help me relax…" Tifa's voice trailed off, staring at Reno with a blank stare on her face. She suddenly started laughing, bending over with her hand on her stomach.

Reno remained staring at Tifa, his eyes widened under his sunglasses. "…Tifa, you're scaring me."

"That's a funny sounding word. Deliveries…duh-liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive-er-eeeeeeeeees!" She said, laughing again as she poked her lips out and looked down at them.

Reno took his sunglasses off and reached his hand out to Tifa's chin, lowering it to get a better look at her eyes. "Tifa? What the hell? I only saw you drink one drink! And believe me; you can hang with the best of us!"

"Yup, oooooooone drink!"

"Wait a minute! Tifa, you remembered to watch your drink while you were gone serving the other people, right?"

"Ohhhhhh! I knew I forgot something!" Tifa poked at Reno's forehead again with a goofy smile.

"Tifa, stop that!" Reno grabbed at Tifa's outstretched hand, the bartender giggling and trying to pull her hand away. Picking her up, he started to walk toward the stairs leading upstairs. "I've got to get you in bed and give you an antidote so you won't have a hangover when you wake up!"

"Antidote. Aaaaaaaanti-dote! That word sounds funny too!"

Reno shook his head, sighing. "Oh God…"

After climbing the stairs, he opened Tifa's bedroom door and walked inside to place her on the bed. Looking out the window, the rain drops bouncing off of the window caught his eye. A crash of thunder rumbled, causing Reno to look up at the clouds. "I only know one person who could have done this. Damnit! I thought I saw her ass here, but I figured it was my imagination messing around with me! I'll get you for this, Yuffie! You're just like a pimple…small, annoying, and I have to pop you to get rid of you."


End file.
